Project Hail Mary Archives

After two weeks trailing “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” the Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” reclaimed the No. 1 spot at the North American box office with $26.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Lionsgate movie is in rarefied territory, having brought in $703.9 million worldwide and counting. It still has a way to go to surpass the current reigning champion of musical biopics: “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The Queen movie grossed over $910.8 million worldwide.

There were also several newcomers in the mix this weekend, including the relationship horror movie “Obsession,” the Guy Ritchie action pic “In the Grey” and the revenge saga “Is God Is,” but the holdovers continued to draw the largest crowds. The power dynamics are poised to shift when “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” hits theaters next weekend.

Disney and 20th Century Studios’ “The Devil Wears Prada 2” took second place in its third weekend with $18 million, bringing its domestic total to $175.9 million and worldwide earnings to $546.2 million.

“Obsession” topped the newcomers, exceeding expectations with an estimated $16.1 million from 2,615 theaters. YouTube breakout Curry Barker wrote and directed the thriller in which a hopeless romantic gets more than he bargained for when his crush returns his affections. The film received positive reviews from both critics (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (A- CinemaScore). Perhaps more notable is that Barker made the film for $750,000. Focus Features acquired it out of the Toronto International Film Festival last fall for around $15 million.

Lisa Bunnell, president of domestic distribution for Focus Features, attributed some of “Obsession’s” success to audiences craving fresh, original voices at the movies. It’s also getting an infusion by word-of-mouth, with younger audiences making plans to go back with friends. Horror movies don’t often get CinemaScores in the A- range, but “Obsession” is in good company with another recent hit: “Weapons.”

“I’m expecting a really strong holdover,” Bunnell said.

Fourth place at the box office this weekend went to “Mortal Kombat II,” which fell 65% in its second weekend to $13.4 million in domestic ticket sales. Globally, it has made $101.2 million from 80 markets.

Amazon MGM Studios had three movies in the top 10, including “The Sheep Detectives” in fifth place, “Project Hail Mary” in seventh place and “Is God Is” rounding out the top 10.

“The Sheep Detectives” enjoyed a slim 33% drop from its first weekend, taking in an additional $10.2 million and bringing its running total to $30.5 million. “Project Hail Mary,” which is now available to rent or buy at home, brought in another $3.4 million in its ninth weekend in theaters. “Is God Is,” Aleshea Harris’s adaptation of her Obie-winning play about twin sisters ( Kara Young and Mallori Johnson ) on a quest to find and kill their abusive father made $2.2 million in its first weekend in theaters. It has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Meanwhile, the action caper “In the Grey,” released by Black Bear, made $3 million from 2,018 locations. Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza González star in the film about a team of elite operatives on an impossible mission. It currently carries a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B CinemaScore.

There were also several high-profile re-releases in theaters this weekend, including “Top Gun” which made $3.1 million, and “Shrek” which earned $1.3 million.

Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Comscore, noted that “Prada,” “Michael” and “Top Gun” all making the top 10 show “nostalgia is on full display.”

“What’s old is new again and audiences clearly love it,” he said. (JapanToday)

“Project Hail Mary” is bringing audiences to movie theaters in numbers the industry hasn’t seen for a non-franchise film since “Oppenheimer.” The science fiction epic starring Ryan Gosling earned around $80.5 million in ticket sales in its first weekend playing in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday. Box office tracker EntTelligence estimates that translates into about 5 million ticket buyers.

The PG-13 rated film opened on 4,007 screens and easily topped the domestic box office charts, surpassing expectations to become the biggest of the year and delivering a record opening for studio Amazon MGM, whose previous best was “Creed III” ($58 million in 2023). Not accounting for inflation, “Project Hail Mary” also scored the second biggest opening for a non-franchise movie behind only “Oppenheimer,” which opened to $82.4 million in 2023.

It’s now one of only three non-franchise movies in the past decade to open over $70 million (the third is Jordan Peele’s “Us” ). In the realm of modern space operas, it exceeded the debuts of “The Martian,” also an Andy Weir adaptation that opened around $54.3 million in 2015, “Gravity” ($55.6 million in 2013) and “Interstellar” ($47.5 million in 2014).

Internationally, “Project Hail Mary” earned $60.4 million from 82 markets, bringing its global total to $140.9 million.

“We all know theatrical is not an easy business. It’s tougher today I think than it’s ever been,” Kevin Wilson, Amazon MGM Studios’ head of domestic distribution, told The Associated Press on Sunday. “And sci-fi movies, to break out to a broad audience, is not the easiest thing to do.”

And yet the results of the weekend put them in “rarefied air” alongside “Oppenheimer,” which Wilson said is “certainly something special.” The film is playing broadly across the country with markets like Salt Lake City, Denver and Portland overindexing which, Wilson said, suggests that they’re getting some family audiences too.

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, “Project Hail Mary” cost about double the “Oppenheimer” production budget, with a price tag in the $200 million range. But it also carries strong reviews and audience scores and could be destined for a long run. According to PostTrak exit polls, where it scored five out of five stars, 83% of audiences said they would “definitely recommend” the film to friends. The gender breakdown skewed slightly more male (57%), and 55% of the audience were under 35.

In an era where the draw of movie stars is always in question, Wilson said, “It leaves no doubt that Ryan Gosling is a singular star that has the massive global appeal and charisma to anchor a story like this.”

The film is centered around Gosling’s character who wakes up alone and with little memory on a spaceship, where his apparent mission is to try to save the sun from dying. As has become the norm for “event” movies like “Project Hail Mary,” premium large format screens were in demand, making up 56% of the weekend’s gross. IMAX screens alone accounted for $$27.6 million of the global total.

“The next interesting piece will be how long can this movie play, which I think could be something special,” Wilson said.

“Project Hail Mary” will have a second weekend essentially free of big competition until it loses its IMAX screens to “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” on April 1.

Hollywood’s other big new opener, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” a Searchlight release, came in a distant fourth with $9.1 million, behind Disney and Pixar’s “Hoppers” ($18 million) and the Bollywood sequel “Dhurandhar: The Revenge,” which made $9.6 million from Friday through Sunday according to the U.S. distributor; Comscore is projecting a slightly higher $10 million figure. Universal’s Colleen Hoover adaptation “Reminders of Him” rounded out the top five in its second weekend with $8 million.

Viva Pictures also released an animated adaptation of the popular children’s book “The Pout-Pout Fish” in 1,854 theaters, which landed in ninth place with $1.5 million.

The year-to-date box office is now up around 21%, according to Comscore.

“The performance of ‘Project Hail Mary’ is a momentum builder like no other and it’s reinvigorating the movie marketplace,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends. “This is a momentum business, and this is exactly what the industry needed right now.”

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

“Project Hail Mary,” $80.5 million.
“Hoppers,” $18 million.
“Dhurandhar: The Revenge,” $10 million.
“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” $9.1 million.
“Reminders of Him,” $8 million.
“Scream 7,” $4.3 million.
“Goat,” $3.7 million.
“Undertone,” $3 million.
“The Pout-Pout Fish,” $1.5 million.
“MET Opera: Tristan und Isolde,” $722,499. (JapanToday)

Tag: Project Hail Mary

‘Michael’ reclaims top North American box office spot in its 4th weekend

‘Project Hail Mary’ blasts off at box office with $80.5m, a best for Amazon MGM, and the year